WR Michael Gallup, Colorado St.*

6’1” – 205 lbs. – 4.51

Profile:

Originally attended Butler Community College, then transferred to Colorado St. and enjoyed two highly productive seasons before declaring for the draft. Solidly built receiver who lines up on the outside, splitting snaps pretty evenly between the left and right sides of the field.

Positives:

Very productive at the college level. Good route-runner who had enough speed to challenge defenses deep at the college level but was at his best when working underneath or catching screens. Does a lot of his work over the middle of the field, running slants and other short patterns, and has the concentration and toughness to hang on through contact. Knows how to keep defenders in his hip pocket. Plays bigger and stronger than his size would suggest. Able to get physical with opposing defensive backs when playing against press coverage; might create a little bit too much contact at the route stem at times, creating the possibility of drawing offensive pass interference penalties, but can hold his own when matched up against chippy opponents. Has good awareness and footwork near the sideline, with plus flexibility/body control to adjust to poorly-thrown balls. Has very reliable hands and maximizes his length. Dangerous with the ball in his hands; very good burst in the screen game. Works hard to stick with opponents when stalking for screens.

Negatives:

At times, can be pinned to the sideline effectively and driven out of the field of play by bigger opponents. Runs what routes he has well, but didn’t appear to have a particularly diverse repertoire of intermediate patterns in college and may not be quite fast enough to qualify as a deep threat at the pro level, either, although as mentioned previously, was able to beat opposing corners off the line in school. Can be a little bit passive in 50-50 situations, letting the ball come to him instead of working back and using his body to shield defenders from the ball. Seemed to have some chemistry issues with his quarterback when targeted downfield this past season.

Summary:

Volume receiver who has a pretty good set of physical and athletic tools and few if any major weaknesses in his game; not the biggest, fastest, or strongest receiver, but runs good routes, has plus body control and flexibility, and is a reliable target who has the burst to rack up yards after the catch. Doesn’t quite have a full route tree at this point, running a lot of screens, slants, curls, and go routes, and may have to diversify into the intermediate routes more to stay on the outside.